Browser and plural active URL manager for network computers

ABSTRACT

A network browser is provided with working list maintenance and creation facility which contains an indicator for each URL&#39;s listing duration level of permanence for controlling how long a URL will be kept or maintained in the working list and also includes an activity duration permanence level indicator for controlling how long the URL will be kept active. This enables the browser to maintain multiple, concurrently active URLs and thereby enable the browser to provide the functional emulation of a desktop working environment to the user.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to computer workstations, communication networksand the World Wide Web in general, but more particularly, it relates toan improved browser and user interface capable of managing multiple,concurrently active URLs necessary to support the functioning of anetwork computer.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Prior Art

In the environment of network computers and communications, the UniformResource Locator (URL) has become ubiquitous as a means of pointing toor identifying an address location of a specific item or data siteaccessible in a computer communications network, often called a web. AURL typically points to a HyperText Markup Language (HTML) encoded dataitem, such as a page of information that can be downloaded from the weband displayed at a user's workstation or network computer. However, aURL might easily point to a text file or a spreadsheet of data, anotherapplication program, a library, a file, or a database. In fact, any ofthe elements that a personal computer user normally accesses from theirdesktop environment can easily be made available over a communicationsnetwork from servers or web sites for downloading and use at the user'sworkstation instead of being stored in memory or on a high densitymagnetic disk residing at the workstation. There are many advantages todownloading application programs and other computer user facilitiesperiodically to a workstation that are well known in the art, but easeof maintaining consistent release levels and updates across a large bodyof users is one typical example of such advantages.

A browser is itself an application program or facility that normallyresides on a user's workstation and which is invoked when the userdecides to access the communications network known as the web. A priorart browser program typically sends and receives URL requests andresponses to and from the communications network which forms the web.The browser also processes each type of data which is presented to it,and forwards and receives data to and from the web. A typical example isan HTML renderer function in the browser equipped computer system thatdisplays an HTML page of data. A spreadsheet program in a typical user'scomputer may manipulate a spreadsheet. Interaction between the browserapplication and the spreadsheet application is facilitated at a user'scomputer to allow downloaded data, for example, to be forwarded by thebrowser internally to the spreadsheet application. This is done underthe facilities of the user's computer operating system resident at theworkstation. However, these prior art systems do not allow for multiple,concurrently active URLs, either in the browser application itself or inthe operating system of the user's computer workstation. In the priorart, as a browser application is moved from URL to another URL at theuser's direction, only one URL at a time is active. By active, we meanthat the URL data content is loaded in memory at the user's computer andis ready for display and/or use. When a user selects another URL orselects a hyperlink from a displayed URL content, such as an HTML page,the browser application will access a new URL indicated by the hyperlinkor the user's new selection. When this occurs, the previously active URLmay be made inactive and stored in a history list or deleted entirely.

As stated, the URL contents are considered active when they arecurrently being processed by the user's computer processor, while itscontents are being presented by the browser application. An active URLmight constitute an HTML page of data being displayed by the browser ora spreadsheet that a user might be currently editing using a spreadsheetapplication program to edit data content of a URL accessed over the web.In general, the prior art browsers make a URL active only when the usertypes the URL manually or selects a URL link in a hypertext pageenvironment, or selects a URL from a history list or a hot list, asthese are known.

In the prior art, the browser application program typically only has asingle URL active at a given time. There are two possible exceptions inthat the user may start multiple application instances of the browserapplication and each application instance can have its own active URL,or the user may make active an HTML page pointed to by a given URL, andthat page may have associated with it a frame which is a managementtechnique supported for HTML pages that allows multiple active URLs tobe present within a given HTML page. Inside an HTML page having such aframe, the user can move from one URL to another simply by clicking onlinks, but cannot change the number of URLs or frames or theirarrangement on a page. Since each frame must have an active URL, theexact number and arrangement of active URLs are determined by theoriginal author of the HTML page of data and does not affect the user'soperating system or environment in a way which would allow universalarbitrary activation of any other multiple URLs by the user.

In addition, most prior art browsers maintain a history list of URLsthat have been accessed and made active over some period of time.Depending upon the browser application itself, the history list may keepa record of URLs that have been previously active over one or manysessions or only over a short period of time, such as since logon. Thehistory list is a tool used by the prior art URL browsers for allowing auser to navigate backwards and forwards to visit a URL that haspreviously been seen or to return to one and then go forward. Such ahistory list is a simple one dimensional array since the prior artbrowsers can have only a single URL active at a given time. Bytraversing the history list of URLs previously activated, the user canreturn to any previously active URLs easily, at least to the extent thatthe history list maintains them. History lists may be limited in thenumber of URLs that are kept in the list simply by memory constraints,or may be limited in the duration of time for which previously activeURLs are kept in the list.

Most available browsers are known in the prior art, such as the IBMCorporation's WebExplorer(™), or the Netscape Corporation's well knownbrowser called Navigator(™). Such browsers typically have history listsof URLs that have been active, and also a user reference list which auser constructs, which is permanently kept, called a hot list orbookmark list. Such lists are commonly supported by browsers, so thatwhen a user realizes that a currently active URL content may be usefulto him or her at some time in the future, a user can set a bookmark orenter the URL into the hot list while it is active so that the URL mayquickly be reaccessed by simply selecting it from the hot list orbookmark list in the future.

All of these functions of the prior art browsers are supported by thecomputer workstation or personal computer operating system, such as theIBM OS/2(™) or the Microsoft Windows(™). These operating systems, andothers of their type, typically feature a desktop metaphor fordisplaying an arrangement of icons, programs, functions and data objectsand other facilities, such as printers or browsers, which may beavailable to the user for selection and invocation and execution bytheir operating system. In such environments, a desktop facility, suchas an application program, can be launched or is invoked simply byselecting a data object of the type that the application programprocesses. The usual operating systems that present the desktop as ametaphor for the facilities available to the user through the operatingsystem can launch and manage multiple active application programs.However, the desktop operating system does not provide the hyperlinkpersonality that is characteristic of browsers, since the desktopoperating system does not follow a user specified trail from oneapplication program or facility to the next the way that a browserfollows a trail of hyperlinks from one URL to the next, since thedesktop manages multiple application programs or data objectsindependently, and not in a fashion that links them together in asequence.

As the Internet or World Wide Web becomes more powerful and its usegrows more prevalent, increasing numbers of computer users find thatapplication programs available on the Internet enable them to do all oftheir usual and customary work that would have been done by applicationprograms resident on their own computer system workstation. Manydifferent application programs, such as wordprocessors or spreadsheetsare now available over the Internet, in addition to the usual HTMLcontent. As a result, many Internet users no longer need to have boththe hardware and software of a fully outfitted personal computer attheir individual workstation. The result is a so-called NetworkComputer, or NC, a computer whose function is to access a network andfrom which all further functionality is provided by the network. An NCmay not have the local hard drive or local permanent storage typicallypresent in a personal computer or individual workstation because storageoccurs at a different physical location, such as a server, availableover the web and shared by many other users. A characteristic of aNetwork Computer is that users can log on at any NC in the network andaccess their own data, whereas PC users, or workstation users, typicallymust use their own PCs or workstations to access their own data. Thepopularity of the network computer architecture is partially due to thereduced cost of hardware, but also due to the reduced cost of support. Asystem administrator can make changes to a user's software configurationwithout having to visit the user's office or to analyze the individualuser's hardware configuration, which eliminates considerable expense andconfusion. In addition, updating of application programs used by a groupof users in common, such as in a corporate environment, can besimultaneously performed simply by changing the content at the server,which all share.

As new computer system users begin to regard the Internet or World WideWeb as their primary operating environment, there is a need for a singleuser interface, which is suitable for two different types of useractivities. First, the ability to surf or follow a sequential series oflinks or hyperlinks is necessary for perusing the extensive contentavailable on the web. Secondly, managing of multiple concurrently activeapplications or data objects (accessed from URLs) is required to takeplace in a way similar in effect to that provided by the operatingsystem of personal computers or workstations. Currently, personalcomputers and workstation handle the two different types of activitywith two different user interfaces. The desktop interface managesapplications, of which the browser is simply one of the applications,and the browser interface supports and manages the surfing capabilityfor accessing various URLs via in the web.

The typical browser today supports the surfing navigation, and alsoprovides powerful search algorithms developed for finding or locatingspecific topics and contents of URLS, wherever they may reside in theWorld Wide Web. In combination, the net or World Wide Web, inconjunction with a browser search engine, will now provide to the userthe overall data retrieval mechanism to operate much as a host supportedworkstation of the past. In the World Wide Web, documents or sites, aretypically written in a definition language, referred to as HyperTextMarkup Language (HTML). Until very recently, the World Wide Web includedsites with almost exclusively two-dimensional graphics and text. Thiswas, in part, due to limitations inherent in the original HTML languagecapability. The Internet itself is a large number of computers, whichare linked together via a communications network, and which contains alarge number of sites, each site having its own unique URL to identifythe computer location on the Internet at which the site resides. Atypical user accesses a site on the Internet from the personal computeror workstation via a communications adapter connected to a telephoneline, and from thence to an Internet service provider which links theuser to the Internet or World Wide Web. The user needs web browsersoftware, such as the Netscape Corporation's Navigator or IBM's WebExplorer, as noted above. The browser is run as an application programon his or her workstation or personal computer to enable the user toview the World Wide Web content on the Internet.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

In light of the foregoing environmental difficulties present in theknown prior art Internet browser systems, it is an object of thisinvention to provide an improved browser method and apparatus which iscapable of loading multiple URLs and keeping them concurrently active.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention will further be described and illustrated with respect toa preferred embodiment in which a single instance of improved browser,in accordance with the invention, is enabled to maintain multiple activeURLs concurrently. This is facilitated by having the browser construct aworking list within the browser's available memory space that containsURLs with which the user is currently working and in which plurality ofURLs may be currently active. The working list may include a visual cueto indicate the activity status of each URL to the user. Each URL in theworking list has assigned a listing duration level of permanence, whichcontrols how long the URL will be kept or maintained present in theworking list, as well as an indication of the circumstances under whichit will be removed from the list. This level of listing durationpermanence is visible to, and may be modified by, the system user. Inaddition, each URL on the working list has an assigned level of activityduration permanence for controlling how long the URL will be keptactive, and of the circumstances under which it will be deactivated.This level also is visible to, and modifiable by, the user. The browseris configured to automatically add and remove URLs that are temporary ortransient in their existence, to or from the working list. In addition,the position where the browser inserts a URL into the working list isdetermined in a fashion that indicates how the URL came to be added. Thebrowser also maintains a history list for all URLs that have beenactive, so that a user can use navigation commands to retrace the pathof links that have previously taken, i.e. to reaccess previous URLs thathave been accessed. Also, the invention is devised so that, at a user'srequest, the browser can create a history list of specific URLs in apath that is personalized for each active URL. With this capability, auser can retrace the path of links created for an individually activeURL without regard to the other paths of links for other active URLS.Thus, any URL that has been loaded, i.e. made active, that has anactivity duration permanence level higher than transient, is kept loadedand active until it is removed by user choice or occurrence of somestated condition, such as logoff.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described in detail with reference to apreferred embodiment, which is illustrated in the drawings, in which:

FIG. 1, consisting of FIGS. 1A, which consists of 1-A1 and 1-A2; 1B,which consists of 1-B1 and 1-B2; and 1-C, taken together, schematicallyillustrate the procedural steps in creating and maintaining and managinga history list of URLs, and of creating and maintaining and managing theworking list for URLs, in accordance with the invention.

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates the primary components of a personalcomputer, workstation or network computer in which the present inventionmay be practiced.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a data communications and computernetwork of the sort in which the invention may be practiced.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of the invention in which the activityduration permanence level states and contents of a working list may beviewed in one portion of a display screen, while the currently activeURL content is being displayed in another portion thereof.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative view of the invention in which theworking list itself is displayed in the display screen area in place ofthe URL content.

FIG. 6 illustrates a user selection and control interface screen forsetting and maintaining the list duration permanence level and theactivity duration permanence level under user control.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

FIG. 2 illustrates a representative workstation or personal computerhardware environment in which the present invention may be practiced. Asshown in FIG. 2, such an environment comprises a representative singleuser workstation 10, such as a personal computer, workstation, ornetwork computer, which includes memory and related peripheral devices.The workstation 10 may include a microprocessor 12 and a bus 14, whichis employed to connect and enable communication between themicroprocessor 12 and the memory and other components of the workstation10 in accordance with well known techniques. A workstation, networkcomputer or personal computer 10 typically will include a user interfaceadapter 16 for connecting the microprocessor 12 via bus 14 to one ormore of the interface devices. Such devices are well-known and include akeyboard 18, a mouse or other selection cursor device 20, and/or otherinterface devices 22, which could be any other kind, such as a touchsensitive screen, digitized entry pad, voice recognition apparatus andthe like. Bus 14 also connects a display device 24, such as an LCDscreen or monitor, to the microprocessor 12 via a display adapter 26.Bus 14 also connects microprocessor 12 to memory 28 and to permanentstorage 30, which can include a hard drive, tape, disk, etc. Workstation10 communicates via a communications adapter 32 to a communicationsnetwork, and thence to other computers or networks of computers.Workstation 10 may be associated with such other computers in a localarea network (LAN) or wide are network (WAN), or the workstation 10 canbe a client in a client/server arrangement with some other computer inthe network. Similarly, as has been mentioned above, the workstation 10can be a network computer, which might not require the hard drive orpermanent storage or full operating system that is conventionally foundin most computer workstations and personal computers.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data processing network 40. The data processingnetwork 40 includes a plurality of individual networks including theLANs 42 and 44, each of which includes a plurality of individualworkstations 10. Alternatively, as will be appreciated by those of skillin the art, an individual LAN 42 or 44 may comprise a number ofintelligent workstations or network computers coupled to a hostprocessor. Multiple mainframe computers such as computer 46 may beconnected to a LAN by means of communication links 48 as shown in FIG.3. The mainframe computer 46 may be implemented any of a variety ofarchitectures well known in the art. A mainframe computer may also becoupled to a storage device 50 which may serve as a remote centralstorage for a LAN 44 and the LAN may be coupled to a communications link52 through some subsystem control such as controller 54 andcommunications link 56 to a gateway server 58 for eventual access toother local area networks and workstations. The gateway server 58 ispreferably an individual computer or intelligent workstation and servesto link LAN 42 in FIG. 3 to LAN 44. Those skilled in the art willreadily appreciate that the mainframe computer 46 may be located at agreat geographic distance from the LAN 44 which in turn may be located asubstantial distance from the LAN 42. A mainframe computer 46 might belocated in New York, for example, while the LAN 44 might be located inTexas and LAN 42 might be located in North Carolina.

The present invention is typically embodied as software programming codewhich may be stored in permanent storage of some type such as thepermanent storage 30 of the workstation 10. In a client serverenvironment, however, such software programming code could be storedwith the storage associated with a server such as storage 50 associatedwith computer 46 operating as a server as shown in FIG. 3. The softwareprogramming code in which the invention is embodied can itself beimplemented on any of a variety of known media for use with a dataprocessing system such as a floppy diskette, cassette tape, hard driveor CD ROM. The code may be distributed on such media or distributed tousers from the memory or storage of one computer system over acommunications network of any given type to other computer systems foruse by users of such systems. The techniques and methods of embodyingsoftware program code on physical media and/or for distributing orembodying the code locally via networks are well known and will not befurther discussed herein.

In accordance with the present invention, a network computer can use animproved browser as a desktop operating environment. As with aconventional prior art browser, the improved browser must be capable ofmoving from one URL to another, of maintaining a history list of URLsthat have been accessed, and of maintaining a list of URLs that havebeen tagged for later recall by placing of bookmarks or addition to ahot list. Like a desktop operating environment, the improved browsermust keep multiple entities active at a given time, i.e. these entitiesmust be loaded into memory for execution. However, for the system to beeasily useable, the improved browser must make use of a new history listand a new working list in order to easily support the requirement ofmultiple, concurrently active URLs.

To manage multiple, concurrently active URLS, the invention provides twodistinct types of information on a display screen. First, a new,selectable list of URLs, called a working list, has been implemented. Inthe preferred embodiment, the working list of URLs may be displayed as alist of URLs, as menu lists, as a series of overlapped folders withmarked tabs, by tables or nemonic diagrams or the like. In addition, acontents display window, which renders the content of the URLs as theyare selected from the working list, should be provided. There may bemore than one content window. In the preferred embodiment such asdepicted in FIG. 4, a single content window 11 shows the content of atypical URL from the Internet while the members of the working list aredepicted as series of overlapped, marked tabs 13 in an upper portion ofthe overall display screen of a display device 24. URLs, whose titlesare shown on the marked tabs 13 in FIG. 4, may be active without beingcurrently displayed with the content window 11. As is typical with userinterfaces, the space allocation between the working list display areaas shown in FIG. 4 and the content window may be varied by the user andother views may be chosen. The preferred embodiment offers a list viewin which the working list fills the entire screen as shown in FIG. 5, sothat the content window is completely obliterated. A list-only view asshown in FIG. 5 is useful for navigation purposes and for listmanagement, although all of the navigation and list management functionscan easily be performed in the split view such as shown in FIG. 4. Acontent only view is also possible as will be apparent to those of skillin the art.

Each item from a working list 13 as shown in both FIGS. 4 and 5 hasseveral attributes or parameters that define the item's appearance andbehavior. For purposes of the present invention, several new attributeshave been defined for each item in the working list. The chiefcomponents of the item in the working list are its URL which is anidentifier that points to the site or location having content on the Webwhich is to be represented by this working list entry item. The URL isthe main identifier, but not the only identifier for an item in theworking list. Secondly, each item in the working list has a contentwhich may be an HTML page of data, a text document, a spread sheet orthe like. The content is retrieved from the Web and displayed in thecontent window 11 in FIG. 4 for example. While the system is waiting forthe requested URL content to arrive from the Net, an item's content isblank. When the URL content arrives from the Web, it is assigned to theworking list item content. As will be apparent to those of skill in theart, some types of content support hyperlinks. For example, an HTML pagecan contain a defined hyperlink to another URL. If the user shouldselect a link in the content window display from a given URL's content,then a new URL content will be requested as will be described in greaterdetail with reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B.

A third element or parameter for an item in the working list is thetitle of the URL. An HTML title is used as the default for HTML pagecontent being displayed. Other types of content may not have readabletitles, but the user can specify a title as desired. FIG. 6 illustratesa user selection panel with an area for entering a label or title of theuser's choice for a given working list item. Visibility is a fourthparameter or element included in an item in the working list inaccordance with the invention. The content window 11 of FIGS. 4 and 5 iscapable of displaying at least one URL's content from URLs in theworking list. If any URL in the working list currently has its contentdisplayed, it is said to be visible and to be visible its URL must, ofcourse, be active. A visible URL should be highlighted in some way. Inthe preferred embodiment, since only a single visible URL at a time hasbeen visually represented, the distinction is shown as a folder tab thatis placed in front of the others. In FIG. 4, the "Think Online: IBM andthe Intranet" is the the foremost folder and its content is displayedwithin window 11.

List permanence or listed item duration permanence is a new elementprovided by the present invention. A fundamental concept which forms apart of the invention is that URLs in the working list will havemultiple levels of list permanence duration and these levels areselectable by the user. The level of list permanence duration controlshow long a given URL item will be kept in the working list. Three levelsof permanence have been defined in the preferred embodiment. The levelsof working listing duration permanence in a preferred embodiment are,first, "Transient". A Transient item is automatically added to theworking list when it has been called for and it is removed from theworking list when it is no longer active. Typically, this will occurwhen an HTML page presents a hyperlink and the user selects a link. Thenone transient URL in the working list will be replaced by anothertransient URL item. In the preferred embodiment a particular color orhighlighting may be reserved for showing the list items that representtransient URL working list permanence levels. A second possible listingpermanence duration level for the working list is "Session" permanence.A session permanent duration level item in the working list will be keptin the working list until the user logs off of his system. The next timethat the same user logs on, the session permanence listing duration URLitem will no longer be listed. This has the function of acting like atemporary bookmark or temporary hot list item. The third and final levelof working list item duration permanence is "Permanent". A permanentitem is kept in the working list indefinitely, including betweensessions and acts much as a lasting bookmark. The invention can beimplemented with only two levels of permanence if session and permanentlevels are combined but additional levels could also be defined forunique circumstances.

As shown in FIG. 6, the user is provided with means for setting thelevel of listing duration permanence for a particular item in theworking list. In FIG. 6, the box labelled shows where the user may makea selection for a given URL entry to set its level of working listduration permance with the selections being "no" or "none" for transientlevel, "session" for session level and "long time" for Permanent levelof duration in the list.

In operation of the browser in accordance with the invention, a userwill pass through transient URLs continuously. A transient URL iscreated by clicking on a link in the content window 11 or by typing theURL's identifier in an input field on the screen as is common in thprior art. However, if the user decides that a particular URL contentmay be useful again in the future, the user can change the URL's workinglist permanence level to "session" or "permanent" as desired.

A fifth item or parameter for an entry in the URL working list is alsonew entirely and represents the activity duration permanence level. Thisparameter enables the browser to decide which URLs to keep loaded andhow long to keep them loaded and active. The three levels of permanencefor working list listing duration are also available to the user forsetting a URL item's activity duration level in the working list. The"transient" level indicates the URL will be activated when its contentis delivered and becomes visible on the display and deactivated when thecontent is no longer visible. "Session" level of activity durationpermanence indicates the URL will be activated when its content becomesvisible and it will be kept active throughout the session until logoff.A "permanent" level of activity duration permanence means that the URLwill be activated when each session starts and will be maintained activethroughout each session. In FIG. 6, the box labelled 17 provides thearea where the levels of activity duration permanence may be selected.

Since a given URL cannot be active if it is not already listed in theworking list, it follows that an important rule is that the activepermanence duration level assigned cannot exceed the listing permanenceduration level. The user is prevented from selecting an activepermanence level of duration that is higher than the listed permanencelevel. While listing permanence is analogous to bookmarks of the past,active permanence levels have no such counterpart in conventional priorart browsers. The active duration permanence level is closely related tolisting permanence duration level, however, for the reasons listedabove. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 6, a preferred embodiment of theinvention provides a user control screen for the various durationpermanence factors and shows the three levels of listing durationpermanence and corresponding three levels of activity durationpermanence beside one another in boxes 15 and 17 as described above.

A final item or parameter in the working list is the current activitystate of a URL. The working list contains an indicator for each URLshowing whether that URL is currently not loading or active, is in theact of loading, or is already active. In the preferred embodiment, thetitle of the URL is italicized by changing the font in the list tabs toshow that a given URL is active, but any other attribute such as color,font size or style, illumination intensity, brightness, etc. could beused instead to indicate that a URL is active. In the preferredembodiment, a small stop sign indicator that the item is loading, andclicking on the stop sign halts loading. In accordance with theinvention, the currently active state is shown for each URL in theactive list. By contrast, a conventional browser shows only one URLactive at a given time so there is no need for multiple indicators toshow the activity state for more than one URL, nor for any multiplecontrols to stop loading, etc.

Another item of significance is the URL entry item's physical positionin the working list. A URL item's initial position in the working listwould be after its parent URL, which is determined by consulting ahistory list, but if the URL has no parent or the parent is no longerpresent in the working list, then the URL's entry is placed at the endof the list. This permits a user to see related URLs grouped togetherfor convenience. Also, if a URL's parent URL is transient, it isimportant to position the new URL after its parent, because when theparent disappears and the new URL is added it will be equivalent toreplacing the URL's parent in the working list with the new URL contentsand parameters. A user can also change the position of entry items inthe working list by utilizing drag and drop controls for example.

A unique history list is also created and maintained by the preferredembodiment of the invention. As is well known, most conventionalbrowsers maintain a history list of all URLs that have been recentlyactive so that the user can traverse the history list to return to apreviously visited content. However, the browser in the preferredembodiment of the present invention must keep a record of the parent ofeach URL that has been active as well as the identifier for each URL.Hence, an item in the history list is shown with two properties. The URLidentifier itself is placed in the history list once it has beenrequested and secondly, the URL's parent, if any, will also be kept inthe list. For example, if a user selects a hyperlink in a first URLcontent and the selected hyperlink points to a second URL, the first URLis said to be the second URL's parent. The browser list-keeping functiononly needs to track parent relationships for the links that the user hasactually selected, so it is not necessary to analyze all possible childlinks that could have been taken for each parent. It is also possiblethat an item in the history list may be a URL that has no parent URL.For instance, if a user manually enters a URL designator, the URL'sparent will not be known. The only URLs with known parents are the onesthat are selected from a given URL's content display window because thecurrent URL itself will be recorded in the history list as the new URL'sparent for any link selected from that content window.

The history list facilitates the implementation of the backward andforward navigation function standard in the prior art. However, abrowser using the present invention can use the accumulated data of URLsand parents to construct an individual history list for any URL that isactive. This allows a user to backtrack through a series of hyperlinksthat were followed to arrive at a given active URL without regard to thelinks that lead to other active URLS. The invention as embodied whichwill be described further with relation to FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C providesa control for each active URL which creates, displays, maintains,manages and traverses the history list for that URL.

Turning to FIG. 1A, a detailed schematic flowchart of the stepsperformed in carrying out the function of the preferred embodiment willbe described further.

In FIG. 1A at box 60, logon occurs at the user's computer and thebrowser loads from storage the first saved URL and appends its URLidentifier to a history list with its parent identification set to noneas shown in box 61. In box 62, the process creates a new working listitem for the URL retrieved from storage. In box 63, the working listlisting permanence duration level is set to "permanent" because this URLmust be a permanent one since it was retrieved from storage. In box 64the system loads from storage the URL's associated activity permanenceduration level and appends the URL item with its parameters to the endof the working list in box 65. In box 66, a question is asked as towhether the item's activity duration permanence level is permanent andif the answer is yes, the URL is loaded into memory and a loadingindicator is turned on in the working list item parameters in box 67. Inbox 68 this active URL has its content requested from the Web and in box69 a check is made as to whether there are more listed URLs to load fromstorage. If the answer is yes, the routine branches back to box 60, andif it is no, it ends in box 70.

Returning briefly to box 66, if the URL's activity duration permanencelevel is not set to permanent, the system branches to block 69immediately and proceeds as described earlier from there. This is partof the process for setting up the history list and the working list forURLs that have been saved in storage for retrieval and initiation atnext logon. Items of this type might be identified as permanently listeditems such as from a hot list or items for which the user has set apermanent listing duration level. The item's activity permanenceduration level might or might not be set to permanent; if it is "sessiononly" or "transient", the item URL is loaded in the working list historylist but it is not made active by loading the URL and contents intomemory for execution.

A second case is illustrated beginning at block 71 in FIG. 1A where theuser types in a requested URL after a system has been logged on. Inblock 72 the new URL is appended to the history list with its parentidentifier set to none. In block 73 a new working list item for the URLis created and in box 74 the listing permanence level is setautomatically to transient level. In block 75 the activity durationpermanence level is automatically set to transient and in block 76 theitem's identifiers are added, with the URL, to the end of the workinglist since no parent is known. In block 77, system turns on the loadingindicator in the working list item parameters and in block 78 the URL'scontent is requested from the Web with the process ending at block 79from which the system will await receipt of the requested URL content.

In block 80 of FIG. 1A, a user might select a hypertext URL identifierfrom a hypertext link in a previous URL's displayed content window whichmust be accounted for in the listing routines. Block 81 appends thenewly identified URL to the history list with the parent set equal tothe content screen display's URL identifier. In box 82 a new workinglist item is created for the linked-to URL, and in box 83 the URL'spermanence level for listing is set automatically to transient. In block84 the new URL's activity duration permanence level is automatically setto transient, and in block 85 the new URL item is inserted into theworking list immediately following placement in the list where itscurrently visible item, the parent, has been listed. The process thenbranches to block 77 and proceeds as described earlier.

A final possibility is that the user selects a URL from an existing itemin the working list itself. This is shown in block 90. In block 91, thehistory list item is copied to end, keeping its parent in the list. Inblock 92 the question is asked as to whether the URL's content has beenreceived already. If the answer is yes, the item is added in the workinglist as shown in block 93 and the process branches to FIG. 1B. If theanswer is no in block 92, in block 94 the loading indicator is turned onin the working list item parameter. In block 95, the URL's content isrequested from the Web, which then passes operation to showing the itemin the working list in block 93 which then branches to FIG. 1B to awaitreceipt of the URL content.

Turning to FIG. 1B, the working list maintenance routines of thepreferred embodiment of the invention are illustrated. In block 100, URLcontent is received from the Web because of a prior pending request andin box 101 the contents are assigned to the working list item that hasthe matching URL identifier to that received. In block 102 the loadingindicator in the working list is turned off and the active indicator isturned on in box 103. In box 104 a question is asked as to whether thenew URL resulted from navigation forward or backward in the historylist. If the answer is yes, the item is shown in the working list in box109 and the new working list URL item's content is displayed in place ofthe old URL's content in box 110. In box 111 a question is asked as towhether the previously visible content item URL had an active durationpermanence of transient. If the answer is yes, the system discards thecontents of the previously visible item in box 112, turns off the activeand/or loading indicators for the previously visible item in box 113 andin box 114 asks whether the previously visible item's listing permanenceduration level was transient. If the answer is yes, block 115 removesthe previously visible item from the working list and ends at block 116.If the answer is no, the previously visible item's identity is left inthe working list and the process ends in block 116. Similarly, returningto block 111, if the previously visible item's activity durationpermanence level was not transient, i.e. was higher than transient, theprocess ends in block 116 with the item being left in the list.Returning to block 104, if the new URL was the not the result of ahistory list navigation, block 105 is entered and the question is askedwhether the user entered the URL. If the answer is yes, operationproceeds to block 109 through 116 as previously described. If the answeris no, operation proceeds to block 106 where a question is asked as towhether the URL has an identified parent in the history list. If theanswer is yes, the question is asked in block 108 as to whether the URLparent is visible and if the answer is yes, operation proceeds to block109-116 as previously described. If the answer is no or if the URL doesnot have a parent in the history list, operation ends in block 107.

Turning to FIG. 1C, the routine which stores permanent duration levellist permanence items for recall at next logon is shown beginning withthe logoff signal being received in block 117. In block 118 the nextitem is retrieved from the working list and in 119 is checked todetermine if the listing permanence level of this item is set topermanent. If the answer in block 119 is yes, the item's URL is storedin memory in block 120 and the item's activity permanence level as wellas the item's other parameters such as title, color, etc. are all storedin memory as shown in blocks 121 and 122. In block 123, the question isasked as to whether another item is still in the working list andproceeds to loop back to block 118 to retrieve each item from theworking list in turn, check it for listing permanence level parameter,etc. The process finally ends in block 124 when there are no more itemsin the working list.

In block 125, the process loop which is invoked as a user requests anindividual history list for a item from the working list is shown.Beginning in block 125, the user's request starts the process whichbegins by creating an individual history list that is initially empty asshown in block 126. In block 127, the working item's URL is the firstentry to the history list and in block 128 the question is asked as towhether the URL at the end of the individual history list has a parentURL in the common history list. If the answer is yes, the parent URL isappended from the common history list to the end of the individualhistory list and the question in block 128 is asked again until allparent chains for the URL have been exhausted. The process then flows toblock 130 for displaying the individual history list to the user andwaiting for the user's input or selection. Block 131 determines if theuser has selected an item from the individual history list and if theanswer is yes, it branches to the get command in block 132 which returnsto FIG. 1A as shown. If the user does not select an item from the list,the process ends in block 133.

In order to more fully appreciate the functioning and operation of theinvention in the preferred embodiment as described, a detailedhypothetical example which involves a user invoking multiple,concurrently active URLs in a typical business environment that would beencountered with a user using a network computer, will be given.

EXAMPLE

1. The user logs on. Refer to the "Logon" flowchart, FIG. 1A.

The browser loads the working list items that were saved at the end ofthe last session. These are the working list items that had a listingpermanence level of Permanent. In this example, there were three workinglist items that were saved at the end of the last session. These threeitems appear initially in the working list when the user logs on asshown by the following table:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270                                                                              Yes Loading                                                                            http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest       http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

The browser requests the content from the web for the "3270" URL as itloads the item from storage, because its activity duration permanencelevel is Permanent Some time elapses before the network responds to thebrowser. During this time, the "loading" indicator remains active on the"3270" item in the working list. The "3270" item is visible, though itscontent is blank

Note that the user had set "3270" activity duration permanence level toPermanent because the user always uses this program, and wanted to loadit automatically at every logon.

2. The "3270" URL and content arrive from the web.

Refer to the flowchart FIG. 1B, 100 "URL and content arrive because ofprior request." The browser assigns the incoming content to the "3270"item in the working list by matching its URL with the incoming content'sURL. The browser turns off the "Loading" indicator and turns on the"Active" indicator. The "3270" item is already visible, so the userimmediately sees the 3270 application displayed.

The user begins using the 3270 content (an application) to manage, forexample, schedules and mail.

At the end of step 2, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270                                                                              Yes Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest       http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

3. While creating mail in the 3270 application, the user needs toreference some financial data and selects the "Invest" item in theworking list. Refer to the flowchart FIG. 1A, 90 "User selects existingitem from working list".

The "Invest" content has not previously been requested during thissession (since logon) from the web. Its Active Permanence is "Session",meaning that it will be kept active--but only after the user loads itthe first time. So when the user selects "Invest" from the working list,the browser requests its content from the web. The "Loading" indicatorfor the "Invest" item in the working list is now active.

Note that the user had set the "Invest" active permanence to Sessionbecause the user only uses Invest occasionally. But once the user beginsusing it, it should stay loaded because the user is likely to use itrepeatedly.

Since the user selected the "Invest" item from the working list, thebrowser will immediately show the content for this item, even though thescreen will be blank until the content arrives from the web. Refer tothe flowchart FIG. 1A, 93 "Show Item in working list."

After making the content for "Invest" visible, the browser must decidewhat to do with the previously visible item in the working list, in thiscase, the "3270" item Since the 3270 item does not have an activepermanence of Transient, the browser leaves it loaded.

At the end of step 3, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest                                                                            Yes Loading                                                                            http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

4. The "Invest" content arrives from the web. Refer to the flowchartFIG. 1B, 100 "URL and content arrive because of prior request."

The "Invest" URL is a spreadsheet in this assumed example, so thebrowser uses a spreadsheet viewer to display the content to the user.The browser turns off the "Loading" indicator and turns on the "Active"indicator for this item.

At the end of step 4, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest                                                                            Yes Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

5. Inside the "Invest" content (a spreadsheet), the user selects a linkwhich points to the URL "http://www.bigco.com/stock/today.html". Referto the flowchart FIG. 1A, 80 "user selects URL link in Content Window."

The browser makes a new entry in the History list to record that the URL"http://www.bigco.com/stock/today.html" has the parent URL"http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss". When the child URL comes in from the web,the browser will need to know about its parent URL. (The previous URLsthat came in from the web were also placed in the history list, but didnot have parent URLs.)

The browser creates a new item for the working list using the URL thatthe user selected. The new item has list and active permanence levels ofTransient. The browser inserts the new item into the working listfollowing its parent, the currently visible item. The working list nowlooks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest                                                                            Yes Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Quote   Loading                                                                            http://www . . . today.html                                                                 Transient                                                                          Transient                                     Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

Note that the visible item is still "Invest". The new item, "Quote", wasinserted in the working list but it was not made visible. Working listitems are not made visible until their content arrives from the web,unless the user selects them in the list.

The title for the new item, "Quote," was established by querying thecontent identified by the URL. For example,http://www.bigco.com/stock/today.html is an HTML page with a tag thatspecifies "Quote" as the content's title. In reality, the title of thenew item is its URL until its content begins to arrive from the web,because the title is contained in the content. When the content beginsto arrive, the title is changed from the URL to the content's title. Theuser can override this title with a user-specified title. The process ofdetermining the title is standard in existing web browsers, and is notthe focus of this invention.

6. The URL for the "Quote" item arrives from the web. Refer to theflowchart FIG. 1B, 100 "URL and content arrive because of priorrequest."

The browser assigns the content to the "Quote" item, turning off the"Loading" indicator and turning on the "Active" indicator. The "Quote"URL is an HTML page, so it is displayed with the HMTL viewer.

Then the browser consults the history list and finds that the "Quote"URL has a parent URL (the URL of the "Invest" item), and that the parentURL is in the Working list and is visible. In response to thiscondition, the browser makes the "Quote" item visible. The user gets theimpression of (a) clicking on the "Quote" link in "Invest", (b) waitingfor information retrieval, and (c) seeing the "Quote" HTML page.

The "Quote" URL is made visible via the process in the flowchart FIG.1A, 93 "Show Item in working list." The previously visible item,"Invest", has an active permanence that is not Transient, so it is keptactive in the Working list.

At then end of step 6, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Quote                                                                             Yes Active                                                                             http://www . . . today.html                                                                 Transient                                                                          Transient                                     Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

7. Inside the "Quote" content, the user selects an URL which points to"http://www.bigco.com/stock/medco.htm". (The URL content will have anassumed title of "MedCo".)

As in step 5, an entry is added to the history list to show that the newURL is the child of "Quote". A new working list item is inserted after"Quote", so that the working list now looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Quote                                                                             Yes Active                                                                             http://www . . . today.html                                                                 Transient                                                                          Transient                                     MedCo   Loading                                                                            http://www . . . medco.html                                                                 Transient                                                                          Transient                                     Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

"Quote" is still visible. The content for "MedCo" is requested from theweb.

8. The content for "MedCo" arrives from the web. As in step 6, refer toflowchart "URL and content arrive because of prior request."

As in step 6, the working list item "MedCo" is made visible because itsparent URL, in the "Quotes" item, was visible when the new URL arrived.Refer to the "Show Item in Working List" flowchart. In this case, thepreviously visible working list item, "Quotes", has an activity durationpermanence level of Transient. Therefore its content is discarded andits "Active" indicator is turned off. Furthermore, the historypermanence level of "Quotes" is Transient Therefore, the working listitem is removed from the working list. The impression the user receivesis that the "MedCo" item replaces the "Quotes" item. This is thebehavior of a standard web browser.

The working list now looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       MedCo                                                                             Yes Active                                                                             http://www . . . medco.html                                                                 Transient                                                                          Transient                                     Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

9. The user requests an individual history list for the currentlyvisible Working list item, "MedCo." Refer to the flowchart FIG. 1C, 125"User requests history list for individual working list item."

The common history list contains all of the URLs that have beenrequested so far. It currently looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                              URL              Parent URL                                              __________________________________________________________________________    3,270                                                                              http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                                  None                                                    Invest                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                     None                                                    Quote                                                                              http://www . . . stock/today.html                                                              http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                              MedCo                                                                              http://www . . . stock/medco.html                                                              http://www . . . stock/today.html                       __________________________________________________________________________

This is similar to a history list that would be kept by a standard webbrowser, with the additional feature of having a record of the parentURL. The prior browsers do not record each URL's parent URL. As instandard browsers, the user can view and traverse this "common" historylist. It is a "common" history list in the sense that it is shared byall items in the working list.

If the user had been using the browser for a long time, the commonhistory list would be much longer. Moreover, each URL's parent URL wouldnot typically precede it in the list.

Rather than viewing the common history list, the user has requested toview an individual history list that is constructed specifically for thecurrently visible working list item, "MedCo." According to the flowchartFIG. 1C, 125, the browser first creates an individual history list 126that is empty and initializes it, 127, with "MedCo." Then the browserfinds in the common history list 128, (shown above) that MedCo's parentis the "Quote" URL, so "Quote" and its URL are added to, 129, theindividual history list. The browser next finds that the URL of "Quote"has a parent which is the URL of "Invest", so "Invest" and its URL areadded. Finally, the browser finds that "Invest" has no parent, 128, soit is finished constructing the individual history list and displays theresult, 130. If the user had selected the initial URL from theindividual history list, 131, the process returns to FIG. 1A, 132, at"GET" and proceeds as already described; otherwise, the history listprocess ends, 133.

The individual history list for "MedCo" looks like this to the user:

MedCo

Quote

Invest

Typically, an individual history list would be much shorter than thecommon history list. In this case, the common history list would onlyhave been one item longer, but that is only because the user hasn't beenusing the browser for very long.

The benefit of the individual history list is that it only shows theitems that were used to reach the current item. The process filters outthe items in the common history list that are not relevant to thecurrently visible item in the Working list. This allows the user toretrace the links that were used to reach the currently visible item,instead of all links that have ever been used.

10. The user dismisses the history list without selecting an item in it.The browser displays the "MedCo" Working list item again, as if nothinghad happened

11. The user reads the stock quote for MedCo, and then selects "Invest"from the working list to continue working on the spreadsheet. Refer tothe flowchart "User selects existing item from working list".

Since the content is already loaded for the "Invest" item, the browserdoes not request it again. The "Invest" URL content is made visible.Refer to the "Show item in working list" flowchart FIG. 1A, 93. Sincethe previously visible item, "MedCo", has a listing permanence level andactivity duration permanence level of Transient, its content isdiscarded and it is removed from the list.

This working list now looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest                                                                            Yes Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

The "Invest" item is now visible. The spreadsheet is still loaded, andthe user's data is just as it was before the "Quote" item becamevisible.

12. The user selects the "Weather" item from the working list. Refer tothe "User selects existing item from Working list" flowchart, FIG. 1A,90.

The browser requests the URL "http://www.weather.com" and turns on theLoading indicator for the "Weather" item. The "Weather" item becomesvisible, though it is blank, and the previously visible item, "Invest",is left active.

After step 12, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather                                                                           Yes Loading                                                                            http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

13. The "Weather" item's URL and content are received from the web.Refer to the "URL and content arrive because of prior request"flowchart, FIG. 1B, 100.

The browser assigns the content to the "Weather" item in the Workinglist, turns off the "Loading" indicator, and turns on the "Active"indicator.

After step 13, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL           List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                      __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                               Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                     Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                  Permanent                                                                          Session                                       Weather                                                                           Yes Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com                                                                      Permanent                                                                          Transient                                     __________________________________________________________________________

14. The user selects a link in the "Weather" item's content which pointsto the URL "http://www.weather.com/rtp.html". (This URL's content willhave the title "RTP".) Refer to the flowchart "User selects URL incontent window", FIG. 1A, 80.

The browser creates a new working list item with list and activepermanence levels set to Transient. The browser inserts the new itemafter "Weather" with its Loading indicator turned on, and requests thenew URL from the web.

After step 14, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL            List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                     __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                                Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                    Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                   Permanent                                                                          Session                                      Weather                                                                           Yes Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com                                                                       Permanent                                                                          Transient                                    RTP     Loading                                                                            http://www.weather.com/rtp.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    __________________________________________________________________________

15. Before the URL and content for "RTP arrive from the web, the userselects a link in the "Weather" item's content that points to the URL"http://www.nyc.com/nyc". (The title will be "NYC.")

As before, the browser creates a new working list item with list andactive permanence levels set to Transient. The browser inserts the newitem after "Weather" with its Loading indicator turned on, and requeststhe new URL from the web.

After step 15, the working list looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL            List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                     __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                                Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                    Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                   Permanent                                                                          Session                                      Weather                                                                           Yes Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com                                                                       Permanent                                                                          Transient                                    NYC     Loading                                                                            http://www.weather.com/nyc.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    RTP     Loading                                                                            http://www.weather.com/rtp.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    __________________________________________________________________________

16. The URL and content for "RTP" arrive from the web. Refer to theflowchart "URL and content arrive because of prior request," FIG. 1-B,100.

The browser assigns the content to the "RTP" item, and turns off theLoading indicator and turns on the "Active" indicator for the "RTP"item. The browser then makes the "RTP" item visible according to theflowchart "Show item in Working list" FIG. 1-B, 109. The "RTP" itembecomes visible because in the history list, its URL has a parent (theURL for "Weather") and that parent was visible.

The previously visible item, "Weather", has an activity durationpermanence level of Transient. Therefore, since it is no longer visible,its content is discarded and its "Active" indicator is turned off. The"Weather" item has a listing duration permanence level that is notTransient, so it is not removed from the list.

Note that this behavior is desirable to the user. If the user selectsthe "Weather" item from the Working list again, even in the samesession, the URL must be requested from the web again.

The user had no need to keep the data active, and there may even bebenefit in loading a fresh copy of the data since it may have changedsince last time it was loaded.

The working list now looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL            List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                     __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                                Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                    Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                   Permanent                                                                          Session                                      Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                       Permanent                                                                          Transient                                    NYC     Loading                                                                            http://www.weather.com/nyc.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    RTP Yes Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com/rtp.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    __________________________________________________________________________

17. The URL and content for "NYC" arrive from the web. Refer to theflowchart "URL and content arrive because of prior request," FIG.1B-100.

As before, the content is assigned to the appropriate working list item,"NYC", and its Loading indicator is turned off and its Active indicatoris tamed on. As before, the browser finds that the "NYC" item has aparent in the history list whose URL is the "Weather" item. However, the"Weather" item is no longer visible. In accordance with the flowchart,the new item, "NYC", does not become visible. It remains in the listwith listing duration permanence level and activity duration permanencelevel set to Transient, until the user views it and then views anotheritem.

The working list now looks like this:

    __________________________________________________________________________    Title                                                                             Visible                                                                           Indicator                                                                          URL            List Perm                                                                          Act Perm                                     __________________________________________________________________________    3270    Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/3270.htm                                                                Permanent                                                                          Permanent                                    Invest  Active                                                                             http://www.bigco.com/fc.ss                                                                   Permanent                                                                          Session                                      Weather      http://www.weather.com                                                                       Permanent                                                                          Transient                                    NYC     Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com/nyc.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    RTP Yes Active                                                                             http://www.weather.com/rtp.html                                                              Transient                                                                          Transient                                    __________________________________________________________________________

18. The user logs off. Refer to the flowchart "Logoff", FIG. 1C, 117.

The first three items in the working list have a listing durationpermanence level of Permanent, so their data is saved in storage. Thesethree items will be recreated from the stored data the next time theuser logs on. The remaining items do not have a listing durationpermanence level of Permanent, so they are not saved.

Having thus described our invention with reference to a preferredembodiment thereof as illustrated in the drawings and described indetail, it will be apparent to those of skill in the art that variousmodifications and departures from this basic concept can be made withoutdeparting from the essential character of the invention. For example, ashas been mentioned earlier, multiple levels of duration permanence forboth URL activity and URL identity listing beyond the several describedcan easily be implemented and various permutations on whether URL itemsare listed or available for listing in individual history lists or notby allowing additional user selection choices such as in FIG. 6, couldalso be made. Numerous enhancements to the list keeping functionsincluding adding of further indicators for newly arriving, butpreviously requested URL contents, etc. can easily be envisioned. Solong as the essential concept of maintaining a URL item's activityduration permanence level indicator in the working list is maintained,the scope of variation in adding further enhancements and detail to theindicators maintained and for their functions will not depart from thespirit and nature of this invention.

Wherefore, what is desired to be protected by letters patent and is setforth in the claims as follows is intended by way of description and notby way of limitation.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of operating a network browser in acomputer having associated means for accessing a communications network,comprising steps by said browser of:requesting from said network thereceipt at said browser of data contents for a specified UniversalResource Locator (URL) identifier; receiving at said browser saidrequested data contents; maintaining a working list of URLs; and foreach said URL in said working list, assigning a level of activityduration permanence; and maintaining actively loaded into said computeronly any said URL's content that has been once loaded and which has asaid activity duration permanence level that is higher than transient.2. The method as described in claim 1, further comprising steps uponreceipt of a requested URL content, of:displaying said received URLcontent and ceasing display of any previously visible displayed URLcontent and, if said previously displayed URL content had an activityduration permanence level and a listing duration permanence level oftransient, removing said previously displayed URL content from saidworking list.
 3. A method as described in claim 1, further comprisingsteps of:checking said received URL content against the contents of saidworking list and, if a matching said URL is found in said list,assigning said received URL contents to said working list with saidmatching URL identification.
 4. A method as described in claim 2 furthercomprising steps of:checking said received URL content against thecontents of said working list, and, if a matching said URL is found insaid list, assigning said received URL contents to said working listwith said matching URL identification.
 5. A method as claimed in claim1, further comprising steps of:creating a new working list entry itemfor each said URL whose content has been requested and whose URLidentification was not selected previously from said working list tobegin said requesting step.
 6. A method as described in claim 2, furthercomprising steps of:creating a new working list entry item for each saidURL whose content has been requested and whose URL identification wasnot selected previously from said working list to begin said requestingstep.
 7. A method as described in claim 3, further comprising stepsof:creating a new working list entry item for each said URL whosecontent has been requested and whose URL identification was not selectedpreviously from said working list to begin said requesting step.
 8. Amethod as described in claim 4, further comprising steps of:creating anew working list entry item for each said URL whose content has beenrequested and whose URL identification was not selected previously fromsaid working list to begin said requesting step.
 9. A method asdescribed in any one of claims 1-8, further including a step by saidbrowser of:maintaining a history list of said requested URL contentsand, for each said URL having a parent URL, including said URL's parentURL identifier in said history list.
 10. A method as described in claim9, further comprising steps of:receiving a user request for constructionof an individual list of the history of a working URL's parentage and,responsive to the receipt of such a request, searching said history listto determine if said URL for which parentage is requested has a parentURL in said history list and; if such a parent is found, appending suchparent URL identifier to said individual history list and repeating saidsteps until no further parentage is found in said history list.
 11. Anetwork browser for use in a computer system having at least a processorand a memory in communication with said processor, said browsercomprising a machine-readable medium bearing processor instructionscomprising steps executable by said processor for:requesting from saidnetwork the receipt at said browser of data contents for a specifiedUniversal Resource Locator (URL) identifier; receiving at said browsersaid requested data contents; maintaining a working list of URLs; andfor each said URL in said working list, assigning a level of activityduration permanence; and maintaining actively loaded into said computeronly any said URL content that has been once loaded and which has a saidactivity duration permanence level that is higher than transient.
 12. Anetwork browser as claimed in claim 11, further comprising instructionsexecutable by said processor for:displaying said received URL contentand ceasing display of any previously visible displayed URL content and,if said previously displayed URL content had an activity durationpermanence level and a listing duration permanence level of transient,removing said previously displayed URL content from said working list.13. A network browser as claimed in claim 11, further comprisinginstructions executable by said processor for:checking said received URLcontent against the contents of said working list, and, if a matchingsaid URL is found in said list, assigning said received URL contents tosaid working list with said matching URL identification.
 14. A networkprocessor as described in claim 12, further comprising instructionsexecutable by said processor for:checking said received URL contentagainst the contents of said working list, and, if a matching said URLis found in said list, assigning said received URL contents to saidworking list with said matching URL identification.
 15. A networkbrowser as claimed in claim 11, further comprising instructionsexecutable by said processor for:creating a new working list entry itemfor each said URL whose content has been requested and whose URLidentification was not selected previously from said working list tobegin said requesting step.
 16. A network browser as claimed in claim12, further comprising instructions executable by said processorfor:creating a new working list entry item for each said URL whosecontent has been requested and whose URL identification was not selectedpreviously from said working list to begin said requesting step.
 17. Anetwork browser as described in claim 13, further comprisinginstructions executable by said processor for:creating a new workinglist entry item for each said URL whose content has been requested andwhose URL identification was not selected previously from said workinglist to begin said requesting step.
 18. A network browser as claimed inclaim 14, further comprising instructions executable by said processorfor:creating a new working list entry item for each said URL whosecontent has been requested and whose URL identification was not selectedpreviously from said working list to begin said requesting step.
 19. Anetwork processor as claimed in any of claims 11-18 and furtherincluding steps executable by said processor for:maintaining a historylist of said requested URL contents and, for each said URL having aparent URL, including said URL's parent URL identifier in said historylist.
 20. A network browser as claimed in claim 19, further comprisinginstructions executable by said processor for:receiving a user requestfor construction of an individual list of the history of a working URL'sparentage and, responsive to the receipt of such a requests, searchingsaid history list to determine if said URL for which parentage isrequested has a parent URL in said history list and; if such a parent isfound, appending such parent URL identifier to said individual historylist and repeating said steps until no further parentage is found insaid history list.
 21. A network browser control system comprising aprocessor, and a display, and a memory in communication with saidprocessor, and a machine-readable medium bearing processor instructionscomprising instructions executable by said processor for:setting andmaintaining URL activity duration permanence level and URL listingduration permanence level indicators in accordance with a users choiceand for preventing a choice in which said URL listing durationpermanence level is chosen to be greater than said activity durationpermanence level.
 22. A network browser control system as claimed inclaim 21, further comprising instructions executable by said processorfor:displaying said received URL content and ceasing display of anypreviously visible displayed URL content and, if said previouslydisplayed URL content had an activity duration permanence level and alisting duration permanence level of transient, removing said previouslydisplayed URL content from said working list.
 23. A network browsercontrol system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising instructionsexecutable by said processor for:checking said received URL contentagainst the contents of said working list, and, if a matching said URLis found in said list, assigning said received URL contents to saidworking list with said matching URL identification.
 24. A networkbrowser control system as claimed in claim 22, further comprisinginstructions executable by said processor for:checking said received URLcontent against the contents of said working list, and, if a matchingsaid URL is found in said list, assigning said received URL contents tosaid working list with said matching URL identification.
 25. A networkbrowser control system as claimed in claim 21, further comprisinginstructions executable by said processor for:creating a new workinglist entry item for each said URL whose content has been requested andwhose URL identification was not selected previously from said workinglist to begin said requesting step.
 26. A network browser control systemas claimed in claim 22, further comprising instructions executable bysaid processor for:creating a new working list entry item for each saidURL whose content has been requested and whose URL identification wasnot selected previously from said working list to begin said requestingstep.
 27. A network browser control system as claimed in claim 23,further comprising instructions executable by said processorfor:creating a new working list entry item for each said URL whosecontent has been requested and whose URL identification was not selectedpreviously from said working list to begin said requesting step.
 28. Anetwork browser control system as claimed in claim 24, furthercomprising instructions executable by said processor for:creating a newworking list entry item for each said URL whose content has beenrequested and whose URL identification was not selected previously fromsaid working list to begin said requesting step.
 29. A network browsercontrol system as claimed in claim 21, further comprising instructionsexecutable by said processor for:maintaining a history list of saidrequested URL contents and, for each said URL having a parent URL,including said URL's parent URL identifier in said history list.
 30. Anetwork browser control system as claimed in any of claims 21-29,further comprising instructions executable on said processorfor:receiving a user request for construction of an individual list ofthe history of a working URL's parentage and, responsive to the receiptof such requests, searching said history list to determine if said URLfor which parentage is requested has a parent URL in said history listand; if such a parent is found, appending such parent URL identifier tosaid individual history list and repeating said steps until no furtherparentage is found in said history list.